


How You Get the Boy

by The Tozier Wheeler Twins (omfgiminlovewithneeks)



Series: Underappreciated Stranger Things Pairings [3]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Adorable Dustin Henderson, M/M, Oblivious Dustin Henderson, Oblivious Lucas Sinclair, The Party loves meddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 11:50:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18620062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/omfgiminlovewithneeks/pseuds/The%20Tozier%20Wheeler%20Twins
Summary: When is the worst possible moment to realize you have feelings for someone? If you asked Dustin, he'd say it was while you were cuddling with said person, alone, in your living room.Or, how the Party helped their friends get together.





	How You Get the Boy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shewasthewind](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewasthewind/gifts).



> Well, I promised someone I'd write them a one-shot if they did something and they did, so here it is :)

“Well, this is lame,” Max said nonchalantly and stood up. “I’m leaving.”

“What? _Lame?_ We’re watching the Star Wars trilogy,” Dustin said and looked at his friend as if she’d just grown a second head.

“Yeah, like I said, lame,” the girl rolled her eyes. “I was promised a Party night, and half of us are missing.”

It was a Friday night, but that hardly mattered since it was also summer. Earlier in the week, Will had suggested that they do one of their ‘old traditions’ sometime later, and the curly-haired teen was thoroughly surprised to learn that they even _had_ that tradition. Sure, they watched Star Wars pretty much all the time — half of their movie rentals were probably Star Wars, but he had considered that to be more of a habitual activity.

“You can’t possibly blame us for that,” Lucas huffed, looking up from his spot next to Dustin on the couch, “ _we_ didn’t cancel.”

Turned out, the ‘old tradition’ would have to be rescheduled to some other day, since Will and El had had a family dinner that they couldn’t get out of, and Mike had ‘caught something’ as the paladin had eloquently informed them on their walkie-talkie. Judging from Max’s attitude, she was going to bail as well.

“Whatever,” the redhead shrugged. “I’m going to Will’s. See you losers later.”

And with that, she left Dustin’s living room, without waiting for either of the boys to say anything. The teen frowned as he watched his friend’s retrieving form. “What’s up with her?”

“Can’t blame her for not wanting to hang out with her ex-boyfriend alone,” Lucas shrugged with a smile.

“So what am I? A sack of potatoes?” The bard huffed. “Plus, you can’t use that excuse anymore. It’s been two years, and both of you are clearly fine with that now.”

“She probably wants to hang out with El, then,” the ranger suggested. “Girl time and all.”

“I bet if Mike hadn’t been sick, he would’ve gone to Will’s as well,” the blue-eyed boy snickered. “Whatever. We still paid for this, so we can still enjoy it,” he said, gesturing the tapes on his VCR.

“I’ll make some popcorn,” the black teen chuckled and got up, heading to the kitchen.

 

~~*****~~

 

The realization hit Dustin at the worst moment possible.

It was during Han and Leia’s escape in _Empire Strikes Back_ when he realized that he’d been practically resting his head on Lucas’ shoulder for fuck-knows-how-long, that the other boy was currently playing with his hair, and that he absofuckinglutely loved both feelings. That made him think back to the other things he loved but hadn’t noticed until now, like the way they always pretended to fight for the popcorn whenever they reached into the bowl at the same time despite having enough for both of them, or the way Lucas’ eyes shone whenever he passionately talked about something, or the way his eyes sometimes wandered down the ranger’s lips while the boy was talking. Come to think of it, he didn’t suppose normal best friends wondered whether their friends’ lips were soft or chapped, and now that he’d thought about it, he couldn’t help but think about what he’d like to do to those lips.

Yeah, this was definitely not a good time to have a gay awakening, especially because the other boy immediately noticed when his body stiffened. The taller teen turned his head a little so that his lips were inches from the bard’s ear. The blue-eyed boy could feel his friend’s warm breath and could tell that the other boy was perfectly capable of smelling his hair. _Fuck! Did I wash my hair today? Fuck! Since when do I care about this shit?_

“Everything okay?” Lucas asked softly, and Dustin’s mind immediately pointed out to him how gentle and caring that tone was. _Not now, you fucker._

He cleared his throat and nodded without looking up. “Yeah,” the bard managed to say without sounding like a train wreck. If he’d turned his head and looked into his friend’s beautiful brown eyes, the other boy’s lips would be— _I said not now, asshole! Shut up and watch the movies with him. Wait. Not with him. Just watch the movies. In moderate proximity to him. That’s it._

The boy could only hope that his friend couldn’t hear or feel his heartbeat right now, but if the guy did, he supposed he could always say he was on caffeine high. Same symptoms, as far as he could tell.

He was so gonna panic tomorrow though, and he knew just the friend to go to.

 

~~*****~~

 

“—and for the entire night, I couldn’t even concentrate on the movies,” Dustin groaned. “We were watching Star Wars, and I didn’t even know what was going on on the screen, Will.”

He would definitely hate himself if his assumption turned out not to be true, but he’d always suspected that the cleric wanted to have a relationship with someone less… _female._ The guy had never told him — or anyone, as far as he knew — about it, but the bard could see the heart eyes he made at a certain raven-haired boy, how sad he’d been when said boy was in a relationship, and how suspiciously cheerful he’d gotten after a certain breakup between someone and his telekinetic now-ex-girlfriend.

“So, you’re telling me that you’re gay and you like Lucas?” Will summed up. The shorter boy had been listening to his rant for 15 minutes without interrupting once, and he didn’t even _know_ he could talk for that long.

“I don’t know,” he frowned a little, “don’t gay people only like guys? I like girls, but I know I like Lucas as well, and as far as I can tell, he’s not a girl, unless you know something I don’t.” He figured they could both use a joke, especially since he was a hair’s breadth away from having another rant.

“There’s a term for that as well,” the cleric said and sent him a warm smile. “It’s called _bisexual._ But I don’t suppose you’re here to talk about what to call yourself. I just want to tell you that it’s okay. You’re okay. Nobody’s gonna think any less about you. Well, nobody important, anyway.”

Dustin nodded at the brown-haired teen’s words, but he didn’t need to hear that. He already knew it was okay to like people of the same gender. He’d never tell anyone about it, but when he’d first had that suspicion about Will, he’d gone into research mode to learn everything he could about homosexuality. He knew that humans weren’t the only species to exhibit this particular trait, that the world was gradually becoming more accepting of it, that apparently their president was okay with it, that the religious community wasn’t, and that his mother totally was. Only the last one mattered to him anyway, since based on the attitude of the bullies in Hawkins, he doubted that this town would be ready for it anytime soon in the future.

“I know I’m okay,” he sighed, “I just don’t know what to do about these feelings.” He wanted to say something along the line of _‘it’s stupid to have feelings for your best friend,’_ but that might not have been the smartest thing to say to the hazel-eyed teen.

“What do you _want_ to do about it?” The cleric asked softly.

“I don’t know,” the curly-haired boy groaned. He _did_ know, actually, but he would never say it out loud. Saying it out loud would be finalizing it, making it real, and that meant it would hurt more when that wish got shattered.

“I think you _do_ know,” Will said patiently, seeing through his bullshit. “Do you want to date him?”

“But what if he doesn’t want to?” Dustin said exasperatedly. “What if it gets weird between us? What if he looks at me differently? What if he hates me because of it and we can’t be friends anymore?” There were just too many what ifs, too many things at stake.

“Look, Dustin, calm down,” the cleric held both his hands up. “What if he doesn’t hate you? What if he doesn’t think it’s bad? What if he wants to?” He countered. “And even _if_ he doesn’t like it, at least you’ll have closure, and I know the rest of the Party will be _extremely_ accepting of you. Plus, I haven’t heard you say ‘no’ yet.”

“I don’t know,” the bard mumbled. “It’s a huge risk to take.”

“I know it can be scary,” the shorter boy nodded, “but if he likes you back, it’ll be the most wonderful feeling in the world. You’ll feel the kind of happiness in stories and fairytales, and each day is the best day ever.” Will’s eyes turned dreamy, and for a moment, the bard felt like he wasn’t talking about something that could potentially happen anymore. _Wait. Is he—?_

“Anyway,” the cleric cleared his throat, “for what it’s worth, I think Lucas might feel the same way about you.”

“You think so?” Dustin’s eyes widened, and Will gave him a confident nod. He tried not to get his hopes up, but it was already too late. Also, he knew Will, and the boy wouldn’t do anything to hurt him, so if his friend said there was a chance, then there was probably a decent chance of that happening. “Alright,” he gave the hazel-eyed teen a tentative nod, “I want to date him.”

The other boy flashed him a bright grin. “So is it okay if we want to help?”

He gave another nod before replaying the question in his mind and frowning. “Wait, _we?_ ”

Will ignored the bard’s question as he turned around and grabbed his walkie-talkie. “This is Will. I have an O.L.D. situation. Anyone copy? Over?”

“What old situation?” The curly-haired teen felt like the number of unanswered questions he had was increasing by the second.

“This is Mike. What O.L.D. situation? Over?” The paladin’s voice came from the little device.

“Dustin’s in. My house, ASAP. Over.”

“Finally,” Max groaned on the other line. “About time _someone_ sees it. Mike, pick me up on the way. Over.”

“Fine, but I’m not giving you a ride home,” Mike grumbled. “Will, I’ll be there in 15. Over and out.”

As the brown-haired teen put his comm down, he was met with the bard’s perplexed look. “What was that?”

“Operation O-L-D,” the boy grinned, “Oblivious Lucas and Dustin.”

“What?” The blue-eyed teen asked incredulously.

“Blame Mike,” Will rolled his eyes, “he came up with the name. We use channel 7 for communication.”

“I thought you guys used channel 7 to talk about campaign stuff?” Dustin glared at the other teen. “You guys told us to not use that channel if we don’t want to hear any spoilers.”

“We still talk about campaign stuff there,” the shorter boy shrugged. “Max and El don’t care.”

“So when you said the rest would be accepting—”

“Yes,” the cleric gave him an impish smile, “we’ve all been talking about it behind your back.”

“And when you talked about our _old_ tradition—”

“It was code for ‘let’s trick Lucas and Dustin into spending quality time alone,’” Will nodded. “We’ve been doing that for a while now, actually. I’m surprised you haven’t noticed the pattern.”

“Will!” The bard groaned.

 

* * *

**Plan A: EX’S INTEL** ****  
**Codename: X** ****  
_~~really creative, Mike~~ _ _  
_ _~~shut up Max~~ _

 

“So, you’re a hundred percent sure?” Dustin asked for the umpteenth time.

“Yes, Lover Boy,” the redhead groaned. “I dated him, for fuck’s sake.”

They were standing in front of Tim’s Taco. According to Max, this was Lucas’ favorite food truck in town. The Party was supposed to have another movie night at Dustin’s, but all of them had canceled except for the ranger, and this would be his chance to tell his crush his feelings. To set everything up, Max had shown Dustin where to get the food that would most likely to get the other boy in a cheery mood.

“Just that,” the curly-haired teen hesitated, “I still think making some kind of decent food is better.”

“And how are you going to justify making him pasta or something without telling him first?” His friend raised an eyebrow. “I’m not against making him gourmet dinner or some shit, but you want to tell him _after_ you’ve eaten, correct?”

The bard nodded hesitantly. He would probably feel queasy if he told Lucas after eating something, but that feeling would only get worse if he didn’t have a full stomach. He also knew Max was right — there was no way he could make something more decent without the other boy asking questions, and that path would definitely lead to a total train wreck.

“Now, listen up,” Max continued, “he loves number two, and I think number five is great, too, so you can order one of each. That probably won’t be enough for you two, so I suggest getting something else to share as well.”

The curly-haired teen nodded and did as he was told. He had a feeling this night would be a disaster, but again, he’d been feeling that every time he hung out with the black boy, so it wasn’t exactly news to him.

 

~~*****~~

 

“They really won’t show up again, huh?” Lucas asked once more after they’d finished the tacos. “This is like, twice in a row already.”

Dustin let out a nervous laugh before trying to cover it up with a cough. “Y-Yeah,” he said, “Will and El are grounded, and Mike had to babysit Holly. Max said she would sneak into El’s room to keep her company.”

“Looks like it’s you and me again,” the taller boy chuckled and punched his friend in the shoulder. “Think the universe is trying to tell us something?”

_The universe? Sorry, Lukey, check again._

The bard’s stomach started churning, and he mentally cursed himself. They hadn’t even moved to the living room, and he was already feeling queasy. How was he gonna get through this entire conversation?

“Don’t know what it’s trying to tell you,” the curly-haired boy shrugged, although he didn’t know how that had looked with him looking on the verge of sweating, “but it’s telling me to get out of here. C’mon, movie time.” It felt like there was a hand closing around his throat, but he kept telling himself to save the panic for _after_ Lucas inevitably stormed off.

He managed to drag Lucas to the living room and put on the movie they’d rented the previous day. _Predator._ That was a fairly recent horror movie, and something he hadn’t had the pleasure to watch before. According to Will, it was pretty good, but he suspected the others had chosen it for another reason. He wasn’t afraid of horror movies, but jump scares tended to make him react rather strongly. It didn’t even have to be from a movie. For instance, if a Party member surprised him while he was holding something, it was almost guaranteed that they would get hit by whatever was in his hands at the moment. The others probably hoped that somehow the ranger would be able to avoid that fate, but he doubted that would be the case.

A couple of minutes into the movie, he knew he had to say it, otherwise, this excruciating feeling wouldn’t stop, and the other teen would probably know something was wrong anyway.

“Lucas?” The blue-eyed boy cleared his throat. His palms were sweaty now, and he didn’t even know how that happened. He wasn’t exactly the type to sweat while nervous. “Can I talk to you about something?”

The other boy turned to him, looking exactly like how he was feeling. _Does he somehow know where this is going?_

“What’s up?” His friend asked, sounding a little uneasy. That detail alone made the bard question his friends’ judgment, and whether or not this was actually a terrible idea.

“See, I’ve been wondering,” he gulped, the queasiness did not help him calm down whatsoever, “I mean, recently I’ve been having these, uh,” he hesitated. Lucas looked like he’d been dreading whatever that was coming, and Dustin was certain this would be the worst reject he’d ever experienced.

“I was just wondering,” he decided to just get it over with, “do you want to g—”

“Sorry, Dustin,” the ranger interrupted, “but I really need to go.” The taller teen then immediately stood up and dashed towards the bathroom with one hand covering his mouth.

The bard was in complete shock from that. He knew he’d been bracing himself for rejection, but it had never occurred to him that the thought of going out with him was that _revolting_ to his best friend. He was pretty sure he didn’t have the vocabulary to describe the extent of what he was feeling at the moment.

That was when he felt the stabbing pain in his stomach.

 

~~*****~~

 

“How was I supposed to know that?” Max rolled her eyes. “I didn’t work there, did I?”

“You recommended the place,” Dustin huffed, “so if it was anyone’s fault, it was yours.”

“So I guess you didn’t tell him?” Mike asked.

“Oh, no, I told him, alright,” the bard snorted. “I think I told him sometime between his fourth time to the bathroom and mine. Didn’t you know food poisoning was the perfect opportunity to confess your feelings?”

“Jeez, it was only a question,” the paladin grumbled.

“When are you going to try that again?” Will asked hopefully.

“How about never?” The curly-haired teen scowled. “After everything that just happened, I can’t even look him in the eyes anymore.”

“To be fair,” El said quietly, “you’ve done grosser things around him.”

“That was _before_ I knew I had feelings for him,” Dustin’s cheeks heated up. “Thanks for making me unable to go back to that time again.”

“How is that _our_ fault?” Max asked indignantly. “Weren’t _you_ the one coming to Will with a gay awakening?”

“If you guys hadn’t left us alone like that, I wouldn’t have been in that position,” the curly-haired teen huffed.

“Since you obviously didn’t realize it,” the dungeon master rolled his eyes, “you two have been in that _position_ ever since before we started doing this.”

“What? No, we haven’t,” the bard said incredulously. His eyes darted around the room, looking for someone who would agree with him. Unfortunately, the other three seemed to agree with the raven-haired boy.

“Anyway,” Will cleared his throat, “I’m sure that hasn’t ruined anything between you and him, so if you want, we can think of another plan.”

“Why are you guys so invested in this?” Dustin grumbled.

“Because we want our friends to get their heads out of their butts and be happy,” El shrugged.

The bard would’ve continued the discussion if he hadn’t lost his train of thought because El had said _butts._

 

* * *

**PLAN B: SIBLING’S SUPPORT** ****  
**Codename: B** ****  
_~~but why~~ _   
_~~because Will and El are helping him Bake, shut up Max~~ _ _  
_ _~~nerd~~ _

 

“C’mon, just answer it,” the curly-haired boy pleaded.

“Why would you want to know that?” Erica crossed her arms. “Or better yet, how do you _not_ know that? Don’t you hang out like ten times a day?”

“I’m asking for a friend,” Dustin’s cheeks turned slightly pink. “And how am I supposed to know which one is his favorite? He always let others pick the dessert.”

It was true. On the rare occasions when they went out for cake, Lucas always asked them to pick something for him, something the bard often took advantage of by convincing the others to pick something he liked instead, since he could steal a bite or two from his friend. He hadn’t realized he didn’t know his best friend’s favorite cake until after Will and El offered to help him bake the ranger something nice, because as Mike had suggested, there wouldn’t be any _‘unexpected incidents’_ if they made it themselves.

“What friend? You guys don’t have any other friends,” the girl raised an eyebrow. “And what do I get if I help you?”

“I’ll help you with your homework?” Dustin suggested, ignoring the girl’s comment about friends because, well, she had a point. “I’ll get you something delicious? I’ll buy you a comic of your choice? Okay, not comic, then,” he backtracked immediately after seeing the offended look Lucas’ little sister had at that last idea. “Rent you a movie?”

“God,” Erica groaned, “you’re such a nerd.” She looked him up and down before smirking. “Fine, I’ll help you,” she said. “He likes cheesecake.”

“Huh, really?” The bard raised an eyebrow. He definitely wouldn’t have guessed. “Thanks a lot, Erica.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the girl rolled her eyes, “just scoot already.”

 

~~*****~~

 

“I still don’t get why we have to use graham crackers, though,” El said as they take the first cake out of the oven.

“I don’t know,” Dustin shrugged, “the instructions told us to?”

“Why can’t we use something else instead?” The brunette asked. “Like Eggos or something.”

“I don’t think that will work, El,” Will chuckled, “but we can try sometime later if you want?”

They were in the Byers kitchen, trying to make two cheesecakes. The stepsiblings had offered to help, and since the bard didn’t want a repeat of _the incident,_ they had made two so they could test one in advance. If this one tasted fine, they would proceed with the next one — the one Dustin had written a message on the surface in Klingon so other people wouldn’t be able to read even if they accidentally saw it. _So we’re nerds. Sue us._

“By the way, Dustin,” El turned to him, “can I have an extra slice for Max?”

“Oh, can I have one, too?” Will chimed in. “Mike is coming over later, and I’m sure he wants to try as well.”

The bard raised his eyebrows but didn’t ask them anything as the cleric was already starting to blush and the telekinetic girl was sending him the ‘you may ask but I won’t tell you’ look. “Sure,” he shrugged, “did you expect us to finish this all by ourselves?”

Based on the look on their faces, they had.

“Well,” the brown-haired boy said sheepishly, “we have you, after all.”

That was a fair point. Still, he huffed at the comment and turned to get a cake knife. The least Will could’ve done was to _not_ take a jab at his love for food after he’d just let the boy off the hook. “There’s plenty for everyone, thank you for your concern,” he rolled his eyes.

“How are you planning to deliver this one?” El asked as she put the second cake in the oven.

“Good thing I drove here today,” the bard grinned as he put the slices on plates and passed them to the other two. “I’ll just drive to Lucas’ before going home. He has a night shift today, so he won’t see this until maybe around 10.”

“Someone memorized their man’s schedule,” Will snickered.

“I did not!” The blue-eyed teen protested, although he kind of _had._ “And he’s _not_ my man.”

“I won’t be so sure after he has this amazing cheesecake tonight,” the brunette girl said in a singsong voice.

“El!” The curly-haired boy groaned. His friends didn’t have to make fun of him all the time like this.

Although, it _was_ a delicious piece of cake. Maybe this would work.

 

~~*****~~

 

As soon as Lucas got home, he was greeted with a grinning Erica sitting on the stairs. That had never been a good sign.

“Can I eat it?” She asked hopefully.

“No,” he grumbled. “Eat what?” He definitely hadn’t bought anything home.

“Your friend dropped by earlier,” his sister said with an overly nice voice that always made him suspect something was up. “He brought something for you.”

_So that’s what she wants to eat,_ he rolled his eyes. The little devil always used ‘nerds’ or ‘losers’ to address his male friends, so if she was refraining from doing that, she must really want whatever it was. “Which friend?” He raised an eyebrow. “And what did he bring?”

“Dustin, and a cheesecake,” the girl provided.

Lucas furrowed his eyebrows. _Dustin bought me cheesecake?_ That was highly unusual of the curly-haired teen. _Is he still trying to make up for the food poisoning incident? I already told him there was no need for that._

“So, where is it, then?” The ranger asked, eyeing his sister.

“I put it in the fridge,” Erica said. “C’mon, I know you don’t like cheesecake. Can I have it?”

“You ambushed me and blocked my path just to ask for that?” The boy groaned. “Fine. But not all at once. I don’t want mom to get mad at me.”

With that, his little sister dashed towards the kitchen. He sighed and continued heading to his room.

After a shower, he’d radio and thank Dustin for the cake. Although technically, Erica was the one eating it, that was still really sweet of the bard. He might also need to tell his friends about his distaste for cheesecake sometime in the future, but he’d cross that bridge when he got there.

 

* * *

**PLAN C: MIKE AND WILL’S AMAZING TREASURE HUNT** ****  
**Codename: MAWATH** ****  
_~~Dustin I’m sorry Mike thought of it~~ _   
_~~what do you mean, Will??? it’s an amazing name~~ _   
_~~no it’s not~~ _ _  
_ ~~shut up, Max~~

 

“Come on, Dustin,” Will pleaded, “it wasn’t that bad.”

The cleric and the girls had barged into his room on his fifth ‘isolation day’ and tried to cheer him up since he hadn’t left his house once after that day.

“Oh, really?” The bard huffed. “I wrote _‘Do you want to go out with me?’_ on a cake and gave it to him, and he answered with _‘Thank you for the cake,’_ so tell me again how that wasn’t bad?”

“I’m sure there’s a perfect ex—”

“Perfect explanation?” He rolled his eyes. “He’d rather ignore my feelings than give me an answer. How was _that_ difficult to understand?”

“That was only _one_ explanation,” Max protested. “You _know_ Lucas. He wouldn’t do that.”

“Yeah,” El chimed in, “he even asked us if we’d seen you these past couple of days. I think he really doesn’t know what’s going on.”

Although Max had a point — Lucas wouldn’t do anything like that, he still couldn’t ignore the fact that the other boy actually had. They could all speak enough Klingon to understand what he’d written, and if the ranger somehow had forgotten it, he still would’ve been able to recognize it, at least enough to write it down and try to translate it later. His crush hadn’t even _mentioned_ the text, and the thank you message had ruled out the possibility that Lucas didn’t know about its existence.

“Look, guys,” he sighed, “I really appreciate you trying to—”

“I know what happened!” Mike barged into his room, interrupting the bard. “I know wh— Woah, I kinda expected this room to smell like something died in here.”

“Thank his mom,” Will chuckled. “I don’t think he would’ve showered if she hadn’t been around.”

“What were you trying to say before you started insulting me again?” Dustin glared at the tallest teen in the room.

“Hey, I wasn’t insulting you,” Mike huffed, “I wa—”

“Mike,” El reminded him.

“Oh, right, sorry,” the paladin chuckled. “I talked to Lucas, and he never even saw the cake.”

“It’s impossible,” the curly-haired teen furrowed his brows, “he thanked me for it.”

“Because he knew about it,” Mike rolled his eyes. “Erica tricked you. Lucas doesn’t like cheesecake. She does. She told him you dropped by with a cheesecake and asked to have it because she knew he didn’t like it.”

“What?” Dustin’s eyes widened.

“Yeah, so he let her have it before thanking you,” the raven-haired teen finished. “I don’t think he even knew you made that, otherwise he wouldn’t have given her that.”

Even though he’d tried to suppress it, the dungeon master’s words still made his heart flutter. Mike was sure that Lucas would’ve eaten the cake despite not liking it if he’d know who’d made it. “So he didn’t see the message at all?”

“I believe Erica ate it before he could,” Mike chuckled. “So, next plan?”

“I already tried twice, Mike,” the bard mumbled. “Maybe that was a sign.”

“A sign from who, exactly?” The paladin rolled his eyes. “You don’t believe in that kind of shit. You’re just scared.”

“Well, how can I not?” The curly-haired teen huffed. “What if the next time it’s gonna be like that for real? What if—”

“It’s not,” Mike interrupted. “I know it’s not gonna be like that, because this time, Will and I are gonna make a perfect plan.”

“I am?” The cleric raised an eyebrow.

“Of course you are,” the raven-haired boy chuckled. “We’re gonna go all out on this one.”

The blue-eyed teen sighed. He knew his friends weren’t going to give up anytime soon. They would only stop when he either confessed his feelings or moved away due to embarrassment. With how his attempts had been going, he would bet on the tiny area where the two overlapped.

 

~~*****~~

 

“Found out where we need to go next?” Lucas asked, and Dustin nodded enthusiastically.

The blue-eyed teen had to give this to Mike, when his friend planned something, it was almost always gonna be huge. Of course, he’d already known that from all the weekend-long campaigns that they’d gone on throughout the years.

This time, the dungeon master had orchestrated an extremely convincing fake treasure hunt game. To make things more legitimate, the paladin had even asked all of them to suggest ideal locations and challenges. Dustin and Lucas were supposed to compete against Max and El, although that had been because Max had insisted to be on the same team with El, and officially, Mike hadn’t anticipated that. The curly-haired teen, however, was certain that ‘the other team’ were just spying on them somewhere — maybe with El’s powers. In reality, all the places they’d gone had either been a romantic spot or one of Lucas’ favorite locations in town, and they had to do goofy or embarrassing shit and take photos using one of Jonathan’s old cameras that the cleric had provided at the beginning of the game. Other than where and what would be waiting for them at the final destination, the bard didn’t have a clue to what he was supposed to expect.

“Next spot, the park,” the blue-eyed boy provided.

Since he was more brainy than brawny, he’d volunteered to crack the secret messages while his teammate did the challenges. They’d just run into one of Lucas’ suggestions — to do a handstand — so the ranger didn’t have a very difficult time executing it. That was certainly less embarrassing than the ‘find a ring-like object and fake propose’ challenge from Will that they’d done earlier.

“Man,” the ranger groaned, “that’s literally on the other side of Hawkins.”

“Well, let’s be glad it’s not sunny anymore,” the bard chuckled. When they’d started the game, it had been 90 degrees outside, but now the sky had turned cloudy, and the wind was a lot cooler.

“Never thought we would run around town like this again,” his companion laughed and started walking away with him. “Feels like trying to take back what we should’ve had instead of monsters and secret government organizations.”

“Those things gave us El,” Dustin reminded his friend, “so I was kind of grateful for that. Although I could definitely deal with less life-threatening situations.”

“Oh, please,” Lucas snorted, “you’re not gonna die in a life-threatening situation. You’re too smart to be killed off.”

“The smart guy _always_ gets killed off after he’s done being useful,” the bard rolled his eyes. “The strong handsome guys like you are the ones who’ll end up saving everyone.”

“Well, if I’m the type that can save everyone, then I can certainly save you,” the black boy punched him in the shoulder.

“By ‘everyone’ I meant the damsel in distress, the pregnant lady, and the kid,” the blue-eyed teen huffed, “not the nerd that’s gonna get slaughtered during the second half of the movie. I’m the one who will get sacrificed so you can get everyone out safely.”

“Well if I can save them, I can definitely save you as well,” the ranger grinned. “I’d be there for you.”

Dustin’s heart fluttered at his crush’s words, but his mind had some other plans with a distant memory of the inside of a bus, being surrounded by monsters, and feeling more alone than he’d ever felt in his life. He tried to push all those thoughts away as he gave his teammate a smile. “Not always, though. You’ve had higher priorities, and you will again one day.”

Lucas frowned and opened his mouth to protest. However, whatever the boy was trying to say was interrupted by the rumbling sound of thunder in the distance. That was when Dustin realized that the sky had turned from cloudy to stormy sometime ago.

“I think it’s about to rain,” the ranger said. “Maybe we should head ba— Dustin?”

The curly-haired teen had already run off, not to the next location on the list, but rather to the final destination. _The hill._ He and Will had worked so hard to decorate that last stop with flowers and balloons and cardboard drawings to set it up for his grand confession. And everything was about to be destroyed because of the weather.

“Dustin! Where are you going?” His crush tried to ask, but he was already running at full speed.

 

~~*****~~

 

Dustin might not believe that _the universe_ had nothing better to do than to mess with his love life, but everything had been pointing to the contrary.

It had started raining cats and dogs around ten minutes ago, and it was still raining now, when he finally made it to the scene. The flowers were a soaking undistinguishable mess on the ground, and he was certain his balloons were already halfway to New York by now. The cardboards were already soaking wet, and he was certain if he left them here overnight, they would all dissolve by morning. He tried to pick one up, and it tore itself into five different pieces. He could barely make out the letters ‘GO OU’ and ‘ME’ in two of the pieces now on the ground.

A hand was placed on his shoulder, and he let out a dejected sigh. He didn’t know whether it was Mike or Will, but it hardly mattered. “You know what? I give up,” he said. “I know I don’t believe in signs and all, but this is a fucking huge sign, don’t you think? I’m never telling Lucas how I feel.” _Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is an enemy action._ There was definitely something working against him.

“So, all of this was to ask me out?” The boy behind him asked, and Dustin’s eyes widened as he turned around to face the ranger.

“Lucas!” He said, trying to suppress his panic. “What are you doing here?”

“What?” The taller teen furrowed his eyebrows. “Did you expect me to _not_ follow you when you ran off?”

In truth, the bard hadn’t even thought about it. Perhaps he’d expected his friend to stay right where he’d left him, or to head back home or something. He most definitely hadn’t expected to be followed.

“Let me ask you again,” the ranger said and looked straight into his eyes, “did you plan all of this just to ask me out?”

“What? No!” The curly-haired boy immediately denied. However, based on the look in his friend’s eyes, he knew he couldn’t lie his way out of this. “Technically, Mike and Will did the planning,” he mumbled.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t you just ask me out like a normal human being?” He asked. “Other people would say something like ‘hey, I heard the movie _Die Hard_ was pretty good, so I’ll pick you up at 7.30 tonight,’ and that would’ve been more than enough. They certainly don’t need to ask their two friends to plan a treasure hunt to impress someone.”

Dustin had thought about something similar at least two dozen times already. Therefore, it had come as a surprise for him when the one time he needed to vocalize his answer, his mind decided to go blank. “I— Uh, well, I don’t want to be like other people, do I?” He said lamely and had to mentally slap himself for that.

“So, did you plan to bribe Erica with that cheesecake as well?”

“What? No!” The bard huffed. “I was trying to impress _you_ with that. Erica said you loved cheesecake so I baked you one and—”

“Wait, you _made_ that cheesecake?” The ranger’s eyes widened. “Erica didn’t tell me that.”

“I didn’t _tell_ Erica that,” the curly-haired teen rolled his eyes. “I was hoping you’d come to that conclusion after seeing the message.”

“What message?” The other boy looked utterly confused.

“I wrote something on the cake in Klingon,” the blue-eyed teen said sheepishly. “Was hoping you’d be able to read that.”

“Wait,” Lucas made a timeout signal, “was _that_ why you avoided me for like a week?”

“I wasn’t avoiding you,” Dustin’s cheeks heated up, “I was avoiding everyone.”

“Has anyone told you you’re _extremely_ dramatic?” The other boy rolled his eyes. “And FYI, I don’t like cheesecake. Erica does.”

“Mike told me that already,” the bard grumbled. “Who the fuck doesn’t like cheesecake? What’s your problem?”

“What’s _my_ problem?” The black boy asked incredulously. “It isn’t cheese, and it sure as fuck isn’t cake. Why would you call it that?”

“The fuck are you talking about?” The blue-eyed teen asked dramatically. “Cheesecake is delicious.”

“Well I prefer chocolate cake,” the ranger shrugged. “You tend to steal that more often.”

“What?” The bard didn’t think he’d heard that correctly.

“For a smart guy, you’re incredibly dumb,” Lucas sighed. “Now, how about that movie date?”

“What are you talking about?” Dustin asked quizzically.

“Die Hard? 7.30? There’s a showing at 8pm tonight, so I thought 7.30 would give us enough ti—”

“What the fuck are you doing?” The curly-haired boy interrupted.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” The taller teen rolled his eyes. “I’m asking you out.”

“What?” The bard’s voice could probably be heard from the next town. “You can’t do that! _I_ was asking you out first.”

“Too bad,” the ranger grinned, “just did.”

“Lu—”

Dustin’s protest was interrupted when two hands cupped his cheeks and a pair of lips pressed against his.

If you asked him, kissing in the rain was the best feeling in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think about this in the comments below
> 
> * * *
> 
> Proofreaders: @[castrateyourhumanpride](https://archiveofourown.org/users/castrateyourhumanpride) and @[shewasthewind](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewasthewind/)


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